Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Feds put Liard First Nation under 3rd-party management

The federal government is appointing a third party to manage Yukon's Liard First Nation's finances.

A news release issued Tuesday by the First Nation says they will fight the move. It says the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development informed the First Nation Aug. 26 it was being put under third-party management.

Third-party management can be imposed by AANDC in cases of bankruptcy or if there are allegations of mismanagement.

The federal government’s website calls this kind of move a "last resort."

The chief and council of the Liard First Nation declined to comment. In the news release, Chief Daniel Morris blames the federal government and the previous administration for the current situation.

“We were elected to manage the affairs of the Liard First Nation last December and we are shocked to find the previous administration left us with a financial ledger that borders on bankruptcy," Morris is quoted in the news release.

Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada has been investigating the Liard First Nation's finances for many months. It is auditing spending over a number of years.

In the news release, the First Nation says AANDC asked the new chief and council to come up with a repayment plan that dates back into 2010, otherwise the First Nation would be put under third-party management, and that, the First Nation said, was asking "the impossible."